Curriculum vitae

Dr. Andrew Cuff – Curriculum Vitae

Updated 15/01/2023

Email: arcuff @ googlemail . com

ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9509-4297

Previous Employment

Lecturer (teaching and scholarship): University of Liverpool. 2021-2022

I was a lecturer in human anatomy delivering teaching to students on a variety of programmes including medicine and dentistry. I led the Human Anatomy Resource Centre for CLC (dentistry and allied programmes). I developed modules for two new PGCerts, and supervised undergraduate projects. I continued to co-supervise a PhD student at the Hull York Medical School and was researching the biomechanics and anatomy of a range of species.

Associate Lecturer (teaching and scholarship): Hull York Medical School. 2019-2021

I was primarily engaged in teaching anatomy to the first- and second-year medical students through anatomy labs although we created additional online versions to allow for remote teaching due to Covid. I delivered lectures to the first-year medical students, as well as within the MSc in Human Anatomy and Evolution programme. I supervised masters projects within the MSc programme and co-supervised a PhD. During 2020 and 2021 I was the acting programme director for the MSc in Human Anatomy and Evolution, and have played a role in shaping delivery and assessment across the PGT programmes at the medical school through the pandemic. I was involved at various governance meetings (PG board, Student Support, Board of Examiners) and served on the HYMS ethics committee. In my remaining time I continued my research, completing work from previous projects.

Postdoctoral Researcher in Biomechancics: Royal Veterinary College. 2016 – 2019

I worked on a large ERC project testing whether bipedalism (and the associated suite of traits) in early dinosauriforms granted them improved locomotor performance (particularly jumping, standing and straight line efficiency and speed) compared to the bipedal and quadrupedal pseudosuchians - but at a cost of reduced ability to turn quickly. This project involved kinematic analyses of live animals, anatomical dissections and computer modelling both extant and extinct animals to understand the evolution of locomotion in Triassic archosaurs, all within a phylogenetic context. 

Postdoctoral Researcher: UCL and Royal Veterinary College. 2014 – 2016.

I researched the evolution of the felid postcranium, with particular interest in the biomechanics and scaling of the muscles and bones of the limbs and vertebral column. Throughout the project I carried out research into the evolution of felid body masses in an attempt to understand its modality (Cuff et al., 2015). I have dissected specimens of eight extant felid species to assess muscular scaling in the postcranium (Cuff et al., 2016a,b). This work has allowed for advanced musculoskeletal modelling of extinct species such as the North American lion, Panthera atrox (Cuff et al., 2017), with side projects on brain anatomy of living and fossil felids (Cuff et al., 2016). Ongoing work remains on the musculoskeletal models of a range of felids (small and large, extant and extinct) which were created to test efficiency of postures, gaits and locomotor speeds with the results will be compared to video and force plate data from a range of extant felids (completed BSc projects) to validate them.

University Education

Ph.D. Geology University of Bristol. 2010 – 2014.

My doctoral thesis reconstructed the functional morphology and macroevolutionary patterns of the ornithomimosaurs, a group of theropod dinosaurs that lose teeth and evolve beaks incrementally along their evolutionary history. I specifically addressed what biomechanical consequences these changes have on skull performance. This included finite element (FE) validation of an ostrich (Cuff et al., 2015) as well as retrodeformation and musculature reconstruction for ornithomimosaur taxa (Cuff and Rayfield, 2015) before further FE tests were carried out. I found that Garudimimus skull function is very similar to more basal theropods, whilst the ornithomimids strain more similarly to extant ostriches with apparent convergent appearance of functional modules in these groups (Cuff and Rayfield, in revision). I also supervised MSc projects and was responsible of teaching many of the analytical techniques I used to new and visiting students.

M.Sci. Palaeontology and Evolution, University of Bristol. 2006 – 2010.

During the undergraduate degree programme, aspects of both biology and geology were studied in depth. This includes many facets of evolution, palaeontology, sedimentology, geological mapping and field work, statistics, and three research projects. The first of these was carried out as an independent library project assessing the effects of sea level and rock record on reconstructions of the Cenozoic diversity of chondrichthyans. The second project assessed speciation of the Lake Malawi cichlid genus Diplotaxodon using geometric morphometrics. The final, my MSci project, assessed the shape and efficiency of spinosaurid rostra in relation to supposedly convergent crocodilians (Cuff and Rayfield, 2013).

Teaching

2021-present – Lecturer at University of Liverpool

• Practical demonstrator for first- and second-year undergraduate medical students.
• Practical demonstrator for first- and second-year undergraduate dentistry students.

2019-2021– Associate Lecturer at HYMS

• Lecturing first year undergraduate medical students on locomotion and bone development.
• Practical demonstrator in anatomy for first and second year undergraduate medical school students (120-140 students) using a combination of models and prosections.
• Designed and delivered an 8 week small-group module on form and function to first year undergraduates.
• Masters level lectures and seminars in Primate Ecology and Evolution.
• Masters module lead in Functional Musculoskeletal Anatomy (2020/21).
• Ongoing qualification for a Postgraduate Certificate in Academic Practice.

2014-2019 – Assistant roles at RVC

• For the biomechanics course I have taught a lecture on modelling/simulation, led practicals on scaling, and carried out a critical paper review with the students.
• Guided a dissection of elephant feet for undergraduate students.

2014-2016 – Assistant roles at UCL

• Assisted in a practical class for first year students studying vertebrate evolution at UCL
• Lecture in UCL undergraduate course GEOL3036 Biodiversity and Macroevolutionary Patterns on methods in biomechanics.
• Two Earth Sciences MSci workshops on three-dimensional methods in palaeontology

2010-2014 – Demonstrator in practical classes at University of Bristol

• I helped MSc students with practical classes including Vertebrate Palaeontology, Taphonomy and Palaeoecology, Introduction to Geology for Palaeobiologists, and Functional Morphology.
• Helped supervise several local fieldtrips around Bristol including Aust, Avon Gorge and Almondsbury.

Project Supervising

PhD

• 2019-present. Co-supervisor on a project studying the biomechanics of hominin skulls using multibody dynamics to assess how different morphological characters affect biting performance. 

Masters

• 2020. MSc projects on spear thrusting, pelvic morphology and bipedalism, and human craniofacial soft tissue reconstruction.
• 2014-2019. MRes project on body mass estimation of Paraceratherium. MSc project estimating body mass of pterosaurs using convex hull methods (Bristol).
• 2012-2014. Three MSc projects at University of Bristol on cranial function in the crocodilian Isisfordia, the pliosaur Pliosaurus kevani, and the crurotarsan Effigia.

Undergraduate

• 2021. 2 BSc student projects on analysing methods for estimating muscle sizes from bony structures in the crania across human populations.
• 2014-2019. BSc project on locomotion in Paraceratherium. Two BSc projects at RVC on felid locomotion and posture changes with body size involving gathering of force plate data from captive animals. BSc literature project at UCL on dinosaurian tooth loss. Summer student studying the endocranial anatomy of felids.

Publications

Published

• Cuff AR, Wiseman ALA, Bishop PJ, Michel KB, Gaignet R, Hutchinson JR 2023. Anatomically grounded estimation of hindlimb muscle sizes in Archosauria. Journal of Anatomy 242, 289–311. https://doi.org/10.1111/joa.13767
• Cuff AR, Demuth OE, Michel J, Otero A, Pintore R, Polet DT, Wiseman ALA, Hutchinson JR 2022. Walking—and Running and Jumping—with Dinosaurs and their Cousins, Viewed Through the Lens of Evolutionary Biomechanics. Integrative and Comparative Biology 62(5), 1281–1305. https://doi.org/10.1093/icb/icac049
• Gatesy SM, Manafzadeh AR, Bishop PJ, Turner ML, Kambic RE, Cuff AR, Hutchinson JR, 2022. A proposed standard for quantifying 3‐D hindlimb joint poses in living and extinct archosaurs. Journal of Anatomy 241, 101–118. https://doi.org/10.1111/joa.13635
• Agnolín FL, Cerroni MA, Scanferla A, Goswami A, Paulina-Carabajal A, Halliday T, Cuff AR, Reuil S, 2022. First definitive abelisaurid theropod from the Late Cretaceous of Northwestern Argentina. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 41(4), e2002348.
• Bestwick J, Jones A, Nesbitt S, Lautenschlager S, Rayfield E, Cuff AR, Button D, Barrett PM, Porro LB, & Butler R. 2022. Cranial functional morphology of the pseudosuchian Effigia and implications for its ecological role in the Triassic. The Anatomical Record 305(10), 2435-2462
• Wiseman ALA, Bishop PJ, Demuth OE, Cuff AR, Michel KB, Hutchinson JR, 2021. Musculoskeletal modelling of the Nile crocodile (Crocodylus niloticus) hindlimb: effects of limb posture on leverage during terrestrial locomotion. Journal of Anatomy 239(2), 424-444. doi: 10.1111/joa.13431
• Bishop PJ, Michel KB, Falisse A, Cuff AR, Allen VR, De Groote F, Hutchinson JR, 2021. Computational modelling of muscle fibre operating ranges in the hindlimb of a small ground bird (Eudromia elegans), with implications for modelling locomotion in extinct species. PLOS Computational Biology 17(4) e1008843. doi:10.1371/journal.pcbi.1008843
• Bishop PJ, Cuff AR, Hutchinson JR, 2021. How to build a dinosaur: musculoskeletal modelling of locomotor biomechanics in extinct animals. Paleobiology 47(1), 1-38. https://doi.org/10.1017/pab.2020.46
• Bianchi C, Adami C, Dirrig H, Cuff A, d'Ovidio D, Monticelli P, 2020. Mandibular nerve block in juvenile Nile crocodile: a cadaveric study. Veterinary Anaesthesia and Analgesia. https:// doi.org/10.1016/j.vaa.2020.04.016 
• Felice RN, Watanabe A, Cuff AR, Hanson M, Bhullar B-AS, Rayfield ER, Witmer LM, Norell MA, Goswami A, 2020. Decelerated dinosaur skull evolution with the origin of birds. PLoS biology 18(8) e3000801.
• Ronaldson HL, Monticelli P, Cuff AR, Michel KB, d'Ovidio D, Adami C, 2020. Anesthesia and anesthetic-related complications of 8 elegant-crested tinamous (Eudromia elegans) undergoing experimental surgery. Journal of Avian Medicine and Surgery 34 (1), 17-25.
• Felice RN, Watanabe A, Cuff AR, Pol D, Norell MA, Witmer LM, O'Connor PM, Goswami A. 2019. Evolutionary integration and modularity in the archosaur cranium. Integrative and Comparative Biology, icz052.
• Otero A, Cuff AR, Allen VA, Michel KB, Sumner-Rooney L, Pol D, Hutchinson JR, 2019. Ontogenetic changes in the body plan of the sauropodomorph dinosaur Mussaurus patagonicus reveal shifts of locomotor stance during growth. Scientific Reports 9, 7614.
• Cuff AR, Daley MA, Michel KB, Allen VR, Lamas LP, Adami C, Monticelli P, Pelligand L, Hutchinson JR, 2019. Relating neuromuscular control to functional anatomy of limb muscles in extant archosaurs. Journal of Morphology 280, 666-680.
• Montecelli P, Ronaldson HL, Hutchinson JR, Cuff AR, d'Ovidio D, Adami C, 2019. Medetomidine-ketamine-sevoflurane anaesthesia in juvenile Nile crocodiles (Crocodylus niloticus) undergoing experimental surgery. Veterinary Anaesthesia and Analgesia 46, 84-89.
• Cuff AR, Goswami A, Hutchinson JR, 2017. The 3D reconstruction of the extinct North American lion, Panthera atrox. Paleontologia Electronica 20.2.23A.
• Randau M, Cuff AR, Hutchinson JR, Pierce SE, Goswami A, 2017. Regional differentiation of felid vertebral column evolution: a study of 3D shape trajectories. Organisms, Diversity & Evolution 17, 305-319.
• Cuff AR, Stockey C, Goswami A, 2016. The endocranial morphology of the extinct North American lion (Panthera atrox). Brain, Behavior and Evolution 88, 213-221.
• Cuff AR, Sparkes EL, Randau M, Pierce SE, Kitchener AR, Gosawmi A, Hutchinson JR, 2016. The scaling of postcranial muscles in cats (Felidae) I: forelimb, cervical and thoracic muscles. Journal of Anatomy 229, 128-141.
• Cuff AR, Sparkes EL, Randau M, Pierce SE, Kitchener AR, Gosawmi A, Hutchinson JR, 2016. The scaling of postcranial muscles in cats (Felidae) II: hindlimb and lumbosacral muscles. Journal of Anatomy 229, 142-152.
• Randau M, Goswami A, Hutchinson JR, Cuff AR, Pierce SE, 2016. Cryptic complexity in felid vertebral evolution: shape differentiation and allometry of the axial skeleton.  Biological Journal of Linnean Society 178 (1), 183-202. DOI: 10.1111/zoj.12403.
• Halliday TJD, Cuff AR, Prasad GVR, Thanglemmoi MS, Goswami A, 2016. New record of Egertonia (Phyllodontidae, Elopiformes) from the Late Cretaceous of South India. Papers in Palaeontology DOI: 10.1002/spp2.1040.
• Cuff AR, Bright JA, Rayfield EJ, 2015. Validation of the finite element method in an avian (Struthio camelus) skull. PeerJ 3, e1294.
• Cuff AR, Randau M, Head J, Hutchinson JR, Pierce SE, Goswami A, 2015. Big cat, small cat: Reconstructing body size evolution in living and extinct Felidae. Journal of Evolutionary Biology 28, 1516-1525.
• Cuff AR, Rayfield EJ, 2015. Retrodeformation and muscular reconstruction of ornithomimosaurian dinosaur crania. PeerJ 3, e1093.
• Foffa D, Cuff AR, Sassoon J, Rayfield EJ, Mavrogordato MN, Benton MJ,  2014. Functional anatomy and feeding biomechanics of a giant Upper Jurassic pliosaur (Reptilia: Sauropterygia) from Weymouth Bay, Dorset, UK. Journal of Anatomy 225 (2), 209-219.
• Foffa D, Sassoon J, Cuff AR, Mavrogordato MN, Benton MJ, 2014 Complex rostral neurovascular system in a giant pliosaur. Naturwissenschaften 101 (5), 453-456.
• Cuff AR, Rayfield EJ, 2013. Feeding mechanics in spinosaurid theropods and extant crocodilians. PLoS ONE 8(5): e65295. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0065295

Conferences

Talks

• Michel KB, Cuff AR, Allen VA, Hutchinson JR, SICB 2020. Skeletal kinematics and muscle function during locomotion in tinamou, Eudromia elegans.
• Cuff AR, Bishop PJ, Michel KB, Gaignet R, Hutchinson JR, SICB 2020. Anatomically grounded estimation of limb muscle sizes in Archosauria.
• Felice RN, Watanabe A, Cuff A, Hanson M,  Bhullar BA, Pol D, Norell MA, Witmer LM, O'Connor PM, Rayfield EJ, ICVM 2019. Disparate integration patterns shape the evolution of cranial disparity across archosaurs.
• Cuff AR, Otero A, Hutchinson JR, ICVM 2019. Functional disparity in Triassic-Jurassic archosaur hind limbs, and implications for musculoskeletal modelling.
• Michel KB, Cuff AR, Allen VA, Hutchinson JR, ICVM 2019. Intralimb coordination and kinematics in elegant crested tinamou Eudromia elegans bipedal locomotion.
• Hutchinson JR, Bishop PJ, Cuff AR, Kermode L, Michel KB, ICVM 2019. Getting pre-university students excited about STEM via 3D-modelling of dinosaur anatomy in teaching.
• Cuff AR, Otero A, Sumner-Rooney L, Pol D, Hutchinson JR, SVP 2018. Reconstructing the ontogeny of the sauropodomorph Mussaurus and implications for locomotion.
• Felice RN, Watanabe A, Cuff A, Witmer LM, Norell MA, Rayfield EJ, Goswami A. SVP 2018. Quantifying cranial convergence, evolutionary rates, and disparity in the dinosaur skull.
• Cuff AR, Otero A, Allen VA, Michel KB, Sumner-Rooney L, Pol D, Hutchinson JR, SICB 2018. Ontogenetic changes in the body plan of the sauropodomorph Mussaurus and their implications for locomotion.
• Michel KB, Cuff AR, Allen VA, Hutchinson JR, SICB 2018. Locomotion in Nile crocodiles: Kinematic effects of speed and posture.
• Crole MR, Cuff AR, Allen V, Soley JT, Microscopy Society of Southern Africa 2016. Finite elemental modelling of the ostrich bill tip.
• Cuff AR, Randau M, Pierce SE, Hutchinson JR, Goswami A, ICVM 2016. Big cat, weak cat? The scaling of postcranial myology within Felidae.
• Jones AS, Button DJ, Cuff AR, Rayfield EJ, ProgPal 2015. The cranial biomechanics of Effigia okeeffeae and its convergence with Ornithomimosauridae.
• Cuff AR, SVP  2014 Romer Prize session. The functional mechanics of ornithomimosaur and theropod crania.
• Cuff AR, Bright JA, Rayfield EJ, SICB 2013. Finite element validation of an avian skull using ex vivo measurements.
• Cuff AR, Rayfield EJ, ProgPal 2012. Ornithomimosaur cranial reconstructions and FE modelling.

Posters

• Cuff AR, Daley MA, Michel KB, Allen VR, Lamas LP, Adami C, Monticelli P, Pelligand L, Hutchinson JR, SICB 2019. Electromyographic analysis of appendicular muscle function in extant archosaurs. 
• Cuff AR, Randau M, Pierce SE, Hutchinson JR, Goswami A, SVP 2015. 3D approaches to carnivoran evolution poster symposium. Reconstructing the evolutionary biomechanics of the felid postcranium.
• Randau M, Cuff AR, Hutchinson JR, Pierce SE, Goswami A, SVP 2015. 3D approaches to carnivoran evolution poster symposium. Reconstructing the locomotory ecology of the American cheetah, Miracinonyx trumani, with linear and 3D analysis of vertebral morphology across living and fossil cats.
• Jones AS, Button DJ, Cuff AR, Rayfield EJ, SVP 2015. The cranial biomechanics of Effigia okeeffeae and its convergence with Ornithomimosauridae.
• Cuff AR, Rayfield EJ, ICVM 2013. Functional mechanics of ornithomimosaurs.
• Cuff AR, Rayfield EJ, SVP 2012. Functional mechanics of ornithomimosaurs compared to other theropods.
• Cuff AR, Rayfield EJ, SVP 2011. Validation of the finite element method on an avian skull and implications for dinosaurian modeling.
• Cuff AR, Rayfield EJ, ProgPal 2010. A biomechanical assessment of gaviolid rostral convergence in Crocodylus cataphractus and a reassessment of spinosaurid piscivory.

Invited talks

• Cuff AR. Manchester Metropolitan University Evolution Research Day 2019. The present is the key to the past.

Journal Editor

• PLOS ONE 2019-Present

Journal Reviewer 

• Acta Palaeontologica Polonica
• Biological Journal of the Linnean Society
• Evolutionary Biology
• International Journal of Osteoarchaeology
• Journal of Anatomy
• Journal of Comparative Physiology B: Biochemical, Systemic, and Environmental Physiology
• Journal of Experimental Biology
• Journal of Zoology
• Nature Ecology and Evolution
• Palaeontology
• PeerJ
• PLOS ONE
• Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences
• Royal Society Open
• The Science of Nature – Naturwissenschaften

(see publons for more details)

Minor Funding Awards

2018

• RVC Foreign Travel Fund - £300

2012

• Geologists’ Association New Researchers’ Award Scheme - £600
• Bristol Alumni postgraduate travel grant - £400

2011

• The Bob Savage Memorial Fund - £200

Field Work

2018 - Patagonia, Argentina

• Two weeks in El Tranquilo prospecting and excavating sauropodomorphs from Jurassic sites.

2015, 2016 – Northwest Argentina

• Four weeks across two seasons as part of a team prospecting a new area for new Cretaceous-Palaeogene fossil localities.

2014/15 – South India

• Two weeks as part of a crew carrying out continued prospecting as part of a long term field project in Cretaceous localities. Discovered fish tooth plates never before found in India that led to a new publication (Halliday et al., 2016).

2011 – Dinosaur Provincial Park, Canada

• Three and a half weeks with University of Alberta field crew spent mainly excavating a Daspletosaurus, as well as prospecting and cataloguing finds.

2010 – Hell Creek Formation, Montana

• Two weeks with Museum of the Rockies field crew spent mainly excavating a Triceratops (Yoshi’s Trike), with some prospecting in the Lower Hell Creek too.

Outreach Work

2020

• Gave a dinosaur talk for a group of elementary aged students in North Carolina via Zoom.

2016-2019- Activities associated with RVC

• Wild Cats Uncovered event where we dissected a cheetah for an audience of 250 people.
• Open Days at the college where we have shown off our research at stalls.
• Visited a local secondary school to talk to the students about dinosaurs and our research.

November 2014-Present – Blog: A (palaeo)biologist postdoc's views of the past, present and future. arcuff.blogspot.co.uk

• A blog about my research and experiences as a young career researcher, now with over 32,000 views.

2014-2015 – Television

• Story of Cats. ITV series aired 2016. Interviewed as part of the documentary looking at physiology of domestic cats.
• Cat Watch 2014: The New Horizon experiment. Interviewed, and ran pressure plate and motion capture experiments with domestic cats to compare to their larger relatives.

2015 – Co-curator of Strange Creatures at the Grant Museum, UCL

• Designed and created an exhibit as part of a four month exhibit at Grant Museum on the science behind modern reconstructions of dinosaurs
• Gave an hour long lunch question and answer session to the general public on my work on dinosaurs, particularly my PhD and experiences in the field.

2009-2014 – Bristol Dinosaur Project through University of Bristol and STEM

• Preparation work of Thecodontosaurus (the Bristol dinosaur) remains using acid digestion, fossil picking and cataloguing of finds.
• Outreach work visiting over 1000 primary and secondary school children at local schools teaching young people about fossils, natural history and their local area through the use of presentations, jigsaw puzzles, replica dinosaur bones, and real fossils.
• Science festivals and outreach days at Festival of Nature, Bath Taps into Science Festival, Arnos Vale, and the Bristol Museum and Art Gallery. Through the use of many of the activities from the schools, plus sand pits filled with fossils allowing anyone to dig up dinosaur bones, small group discussions and even casting of real fossils.
• Open door days at the University of Bristol showing members of the public some of our research and doing many of the activities previously mentioned.
• In collaboration with the Bristol Zoo Gardens dinosaur exhibits during the summer of 2012, I showed people some of the Bristol dinosaur bones, talked about the preparation work that is ongoing, showing them some material from Welsh cave deposits of some of the oldest mammals in the world, and generally talking and answering questions about fossils.

2009-2013 – Access Bristol

• Showing potential students from the local area who would be the first to go to university from their families around the School of Earth Sciences. It allows us to talk to them about our studies, and engage them with some of the science we do in the department.

March 2012 – Discover

• Helped with the Dinosaur Feather stall that allowed the general public to see the research that members of the School of Earth Sciences have done attempting to reconstruct the colour of dinosaurs based on their melanosomes in their fossil feathers.

Animal licences

• I was Home Office licenced for work with crocodiles and elegant crested tinamous
• PIL A and B, Poultry, Scottish Accreditation Board
• L, E1, PIL A (theory and skills), PIL B, PIL C, K (theory), Mouse, Royal Society of Biology

References

Professor Paul O'Higgins

PalaeoHub

University of York

Wentworth Way, Heslington

York YO10 5DD

United Kingdom

+44 (0) 1904328872

hyspo(at)hyms.ac.uk 

Professor Emily Rayfield

Office IC123

Life Sciences Building

University of Bristol

24 Tyndall Avenue

Bristol BS8 1TQ

United Kingdom

+44 (0) 1173941210

e.rayfield(at)bristol.ac.uk

Professor John Hutchinson

Structure & Motion Laboratory

The Royal Veterinary College

Hawkshead Lane

North Mymms, Hatfield

Hertfordshire AL9 7TA

United Kingdom

+44 (0) 1707666313

jhutchinson(at)rvc.ac.uk

Professor Anjali Goswami

Research Leader, Life Sciences

Darwin Centre

The Natural History Museum

Cromwell Road, London  SW7 5BD

United Kingdom

a.goswami(at)nhm.ac.uk